Chamber for railway oars



(No Model.) 3 Sheets -Sheet 1.v

J. H. RIDGWAY, Decd F. W. RIDGWAY, Administratrix. I REPRIGERATINGGHAMBBR FOR RAILWA Y. CARS, &c.

(No Model.) 3Sheets-Shet 2 J. H. RIDGWAY, De0d., F W RIDPWAYAdmnnstratnx RE'FRIGERATING CHAMBER FOR RAILWAY CARS, Sac;

Patented J an. 2

f .rw.

Y UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOB H. RlDGWAY, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, (FRANGELIA RIDGWAYADMINISTRATRIX OF SAID JOB H. RIDGWAY, DECEASED.)

REFRlGERATlNG-CHAMBER FOR RAILWAY-CARS, 80G.

SPECIFICATION forming'part of Letters Patent No. 270,12 6, dated January2, 1883.

' Application filed May 16,.1882/ .(No mo e1.)

articles, whether stored in permanent refrigeratingroo'ms for immediateuse by provision- 1 dealers, or in railway-cars for transportation asarticles of commerce to remote markets in all seasons.

The objects of my improvements are to render the preserving-chamber orstorage-room 2o practically air-tight with a sliding door, whereby toprevent the influx or entrance of the outside air, by which thecondition of that within the storage-room would be affected; to providea secure fastening for a sliding sealing-door;

- 2 5 to provide for carrying oh the drip-water from the ice, togetherwith the water ofcondensation on the troughs, while excluding theentrance of air into the cold storage-room; and to facilitate thecleaning of the sealing drip cup or receptacle of collected matter.

The accompanying drawings illustrate my improvements as appliedto anair-tight storage-chamber of a railway-car adapted for refrigerati-vepurposes but it will be understood 5 that the particular matters ofthese improvements are alike applicable to refrigerative structures oflarge capacity -such as used in store-houses and byprovision-dealers-and that their employment in a non-conductingstructure, in which the insulation of the walls,

roof, and floor from the influence of outside temperatures and fromfrost, may be effected in any of the well-known ways.

Referring to these drawings, Figure 1 rep- 4 5 resents a verticaltransverse section of the body of a car, showing the slidingsealing-door in itssealed position on the inner wall or shell,

and the outside sliding non-sealing door in position to cover andconceal the fastenings of said sealing-door, showing also the relationof the hinged sealing drip cup or receptacle to the drip-pipes ot' thefloor and of the refrigcrating drip-troughs; Fig. 2, an elevation of somuch of the side of a car as shows the doorway, the outside slidingnon-sealing dloor be-. mg in opened position to expose the arrangementof the fastenings for the slidingsealingdoor; Fig. 3, ahorizontalsection of a portion of the side of a car, showing the inner slidingsealing-door in position to seal the doorway, 6c and the outer slidingnon-sealing door closed. Fig. 4 shows a similar sectional view with bothdoors opened. Fig. 5 shows an enlarged sectional view of one of thefastening devices'for the sliding sealing-door in the positionit,,occupies when the door is fastened. Fig. 6 shows a similar sectionalview, the fastening device being in the position it occupies when thedoor is unfastened. Fig. 7 shows an enlarged sectionalview of thehingedsealing drip cup or receptacle, and Fig. 8 a top viewof the same. Asdry, cold, pure airis essential for perfect preservation of allperishable articles of food, I prefer a system for maintaining theseconditions of the air, confined on the closing of the storage-room, suchas that show u and described in my Patent No. 159,843, dated February16, 187 in which an automatic circulation of the confined air iseffected and maintained within the storageroom by the same means whichef- 8o fects the condensation of the moisture and the pure condition andlow temperature of the air. My present improvements, however, may beused with any system or plan of refrigeration.

In Fig. 1, D indicates a series-of metallic troughs, having inclinedwalls arranged to re ceive the drip from an ice-chamber or other coolingmedium, and to extend backwardand forward in opposite inclined relationto each other, sothat while the flow will be from one '90 to the otherthe water of condensation will. be from the inclinedwalls of one intothe open top of the other.

The doorway is closed by a sliding inner and outer door hung by suitablehangers or sup- 5- ported by bottom rollers.

The inner door, A, is preferably the sealing one, and is madenon-conducting to heat, as the walls of the chamber, while the outerdoor,

E, is non-sealing, and serves primarily as the mo locking-door to coverand protect the fastenings of the inner door when closed and sealed. Theemployment ofa sliding sealing-door gives important advantages incompactness for storage-room. It is sealed when closed by strips ofrubber, b, secured around the edges otlthe door by cleats b, orotherwise, and projecting a suitable distance beyond that side, a, ofthe door which is next the inner wall of the chamber, with which saidrubber is brought into sealing contact. This rubber may be a flat strip,or doubled on itself in the form of a loop, and may be secured in thecar wall or frame, so as to project in position to seal the door whenclosed. It is important, in opening and closing the door, that thesealing-edge of the rubber strip be kept free from wearing or rubbingcontact with the chamber-wall, and for this purpose the rollers d of thehangers d are made conical, their smallest ends being next the oar-wall,while the track or rail on which the rollers run is beveled tocorrespond with the taper of the rollers. The length of the rollers isgreater than the thickness of the beveled rail or track on which theyrun, and this, in connection with the conical form of rollers,

' will allow the door, by reason of its weight, to shove off from thewall of the chamber-in being slid to open and close it, and therebyprevent friction and wear of the sealing-edge I of screw-bolts fitted innon-threaded metal holders in the wall or jambs of the chamber, andself-adjusting nuts fitted in the door, so as to receive the bolts. Theholders for the screwbolts are formed of a hollow part, f, passedthrough the wall or jamb of the chamber, and a sunken or cup part,f, therim or edge of which is flush with and secured to the outer wall or jambof the chamber. The hollow part fextends inward flush with the innerwall of the chamber, and its interior flares to its inner end. Thescrew-bolt e is provided with a bandle, 6, preferably a swing-handleadapted to hang within the sunken or cup end, so as not to interferewith the sliding of the outside door. The bolt has a raised thread, anda concave c0llar,f secured in the cup end of the holder, serves as abearing for the unthreaded part of the bolt and its circular head, andprevents it from being drawn entirely out of its holder, while thescrew-thread, being short, allows the bolt to be drawn out far enough tobring its inner end entirely within the hollow holder, as shown in Fig.6. These fasteningbolts are arranged near the four corners of thedoorway, as shown in Fig. 2, and the nuts g, into which they screw, aresecured in housings or sockets arranged in the door, so as to be inpositions opposite the bolts when the door is closed. The nut is ofelongated form,has a curved or semi-cylindrical end, and is securedwithin a metal socket or housing, It, which is secured by a flangewithin the door. This socket It has a curved. interior corresponding tothe curved end of the nut, so'as to allow the latter to have a slightball-and-socket movement for a purpose to be presently stated. The nutis prevented from turning with the bolt by lugs h on the inner side ofthe socket h entering recesses g in the sides of the nut. The inner end,e, of the bolt 0 is pointed, and for a short distance has no thread, andis of such diameteras to allow ittoenterthe threaded opening of the nutand bring it in line with the bolt by reason of the capacity of the nutto turn as upon a ball-and-socket joint. The flaring of the hollowpartof the bolt-holder and the concave. collar-j allows a certain vibrationof the bolt, and this-permits its end to enter the nut in the door, eventhough, by reason of the rock of the car, the nut in the cardoor, whenclosed, should not come directly opposite the center of the bolt-holder.When so closed the bolts are entered in the'nuts and turned by theirhandles, so as to draw the door sealing-strips hard and uniformlyagainst the wall of the chamber, compressing the rubber, andefi'ectually sealing the doorway. The inner and outer door of each sideslide or open toward the same end of the chamber, and the outer doorbeing opened the bolts may be unscrewed and pulledout till theirthreaded parts strike the fixed collars f when the in nerdoor may thenbe slid open, but is prevented from opening farther than to bring theedge t of the door A flush with the door-jamb j by a cleat or stop, 70,on the inner wall of the chamber, as sho n in Figs. 3 and 4. Both doorsbeing open, and the fastening-bolts drawn out to their full extent, itis evident that they will cross the path of'the outer door and preventit being closed until the inner one has been closed land all the boltssecured, because in the open position of thedoors two of the bolts willbe prevented from being forced in, as the inner door will presenta solidsurface to the entrance of said bolts. It is impossible, therefore, toclose the outer door without first closing theinner one, and the lattercannot be left open or unsealed by accident. The vertical sealing-stripsare arranged so that in opening and closing the door they do not crossthe boltopenings of the chamber-wall, and there is no danger of therubber strips being cut or torn should the bolts not be pulled entirelyout while opening and closing the door, as shown in Fig. 3.

The sealingdoor may be arranged on the outer side of the chamber, orbetween its walls; but howevervarranged the rubber strips must projecteither from the side of the door or the jambs and the sealing of thelatter effected by a compound movement-that is to say, a lat' eralmovement at right angles to the wall-to effect the compression of therubber strips uniformly around'the four edges of the door, and avertical movement by the action of the conical hanging rollers upon thefixed track, the extent of which must be snflicient to free the .rubberstrips from the wall when the screw.-

fastenings are withdrawn from the door-nuts.

The floor G of the chamber inclines down- IIO 210,121; i Y a ward fromthe sides to the middle, where it is provided with a grating, 0, wherebywater or' drippings from the meat or other articles may be trapped oti'by a sealed waste-pipe and dripreceptacle. This receptacle. consists ofa cup,

The waste-pipe Z connects with the floor-V grating and enters the top ofthe drip-cup,and the drip-pipe m from the refrigerating;troughs alsoenters the drip-cup, within which both these pipes are sealed againstthe entrance of air into the chamber by the drip or flow from thetroughs. A cbllanm, on the drip-pipem, fastened to the floor, preventsthe end of the pipe, when once adjusted, from being pushed too far in orpulled too far out of the cup B. The top edgcof the cup B is folded orturned in upon itself, by which it is prevented from being emptied'byslipping over upon a sudden stoppage or-jerk of the ear. Theperforations in the basin permit the overflow troin the cup to pass off,the cup being supported by legs upon such perforated bottom. Preferablythe basin is hinged at n, so that when unlocked and allowed to drop downthe cup will be tilted over and empty its contents through one Or moreopenings or perforations, 0, in the side of the cup, under its turned-intop, as shown in Fig. 7. This facility for emptying thedripcupis'important to keep the cup clean and free from smell, while thelocking of the basin maintains the proper relation of the cup with thepipes against unauthorized interference. While, therefore, it isimportant that the dripcup should be removable for cleaning, itis alsoimportant that its proper relation to the drippipes should be madesecure to maintain the-- seal, as stated. The floor maybe provided withtwo or more gratings, and'two or more dripreceptacles may be used, ifdesired.

The collarftis in two pieces, and secured, after the screw is inserted,by small screws in thejoint, as shown; and the socket his provided witha removable cap to allow the nut to be put in place, having side groovesto allow it to pass the lugs h of the socket.

I claim 1. The combination, with a refrigeratingchamber, of an inner andan outer sliding door, the inner one of which is provided with asealing-strip and the outer one arranged to cover the fastenings bywhich the inner dooris-both chamber, the inner and the outer slidingdoors,

one of which is the sealing-door, and means, substantially as described,for sealing and securing said door.

4. In com bination with a refrigerating-chamber, a sliding door boundedby rubber sealingstrips projecting next to and at right angles to thewall of said chamber, and means, sub stantially as described,forcompressing said sealing-strips and securing the door when sealed.

5. The combination, with a refrigeratingchamber having a doorway in itsvertical wall, of an inner and an outer sliding door, one of which isbounded by a face sealing-strip, selfadjusting screw-nuts carried bysaid sealingdoor, and screw-bolts for fastening the latter, havingconvex bearing-heads seated in the outer Wall of said chamber,substantially as described, for the purpose specified.

6. The com bination, substantially herein described, in aret'rigeratbig-chamber, of an inner and an outer sliding 'door, one ofwhich is the sealing-door, self-ad usting screw-nuts carried by saidsealing-door, screw-bolts for fastening the latter, having swivelingbearing-heads in the outer wall of said chamber, and tubular holders forsaid fastening-bolts, having their inner walls flaring to and openingwithin said chamber, substantially as described, for the purposespecified.

7. In a refrigerat'ing'chamber, the combination of a sliding door,hounded by a face projecting sealing-strip, with means, substantiallyherein set forth, whereby said sealing-- strip is clamped upon thechamber-wall in sealing the doorway, and means whereby the release ofsaid sealing strip from contact with said chamber-walhwhen the doorisunt'astened,

ing connection with the chamber-wall, for the purpose set forth.

10. The combination, substantially hereinbet'ore set forth,- in arefrigerating-chamber, of a sliding sealing-door, having self-adjustingnuts, with screw-bolts having non-threaded connection with the chamberWall orjambs and non-threaded inner ends, for the purpose stated.

11. The combination, substantially herein set forth, in arefrigerating-chamber, of an inner sealing and an outer non-sealingsliding door with a fastening device for the sealingdoor, consisting ofthe ball-and-socket bearing- IIC nut g, secured in said door, thescrew-bolt e, and its holder, having a flaring interior and a sunken orcup end, within which the said screw-bolt has a non-threaded connection,for the purpose stated.

12. The described sealing-door for a refrigerating-cham ber, consistingof non-conducting Walls, face projecting sealing-strips, conical hangingrollers, and self-adjusting nuts, in combination with fastening-screwssuitably secured in the wall of the chamber, substantially as described,for the purpose specified.

13. In combination with the sliding sealingdoor' of arefrigerating-chamber, ihe nuts 9, their holders h, formingball-and-socket bearings, having provision for preventing the turning ofthe nuts, while allowing of their adjustment, the screw-bolts e, andtheir hollow flaring holders f, provided each with a collar,

f, forming a concave bearing for the bolthead, a stop to limit theoutward movement of the bolt, and, in connection with the flaring holderand the circular bolt-head, allow ofthe lateral adjustment of the boltin relation to the nut, substantially as described, for the purposespecified.

M. The combination, in a refrigerating-chamber, of an inner slidingsealing-door, with fastening devices therei'or arranged within thegratings, of an overflow sealing drip-cup removably locked within arecess in the under side of the floor of said chamber, substantially asdescribed, for the purpose specified.

16. In a refrigerating-chamber, the coinbination, with the floordrip-pipe l, of a removable drip-cup consisting of a perforated basin,B, and a centraloverflow sealing-cup, and means, substantiallydescribed, whereby said basin is locked to the bottom of thechamberfloor to secure; the sealing-cup in proper rela- 18.'Thecombination ofa refrigerating-chain.

her, having its floor provided with a draininggrating, withtheperforated basin B, the dripcup B, having its upper end turnedinward, and provided with one or more side openings, 0, and thedrip-pipes lm, substantially as described, for the purpose specified.

19. The drip-receptacle composed of an overflow-cup, B, and aperl'oratedbasin, B, in combination with a floor drip-pipe, l, and a drip-pipe, m,communicating with refrigerating apparatus.

In testimony whereof I have hereuntoset my hand in the preseuceoftwosubscribing witnesses.

JOB H. RIDGWAY.

Witnesses:

E. H. BAILEY, BENJ. R. BRAISTED.

